


The World Takes A Breath

by Phrenotobe



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, family life, he/him pronouns for forrest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 03:43:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17614781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phrenotobe/pseuds/Phrenotobe
Summary: Life continues, but for Leo, the war is over. The fight finished after the final battle, but the world needed time to take a breath. He has his books, his plans, his diagrams. Perhaps, if he has time (he never does) he'll write his work up as a book of strategy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [midnightseashell14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightseashell14/gifts).



The war is over, and Leo is constantly busy these days. he picks through the pages, shuffling plans aside to bring forth the most expedient change as ordered by King Xander. A year has slid through from morning to evening, spring to summer. 

Life continues, but for Leo, the war is over. The fight finished after the final battle, but the world needed time to take a breath. He has his books, his plans, his diagrams. Perhaps, if he has time (he never does) he'll write his work up as a book of strategy. It's second nature to want things he can't have, to need time he can't spare. But he wonders, even in quiet times, how he can train himself out of the urge. 

Takumi moves into his apartments. It's a mutual decision. 

It's colder in Nohr than Hoshido. Takumi complains about it, about the chill of his toes in his light shoes and the way that cold sneaks in through the v-shaped dip of his collar. Leo laughs but not much, and helps order him some warmer clothes. He confesses, during their first kiss as men of peace, that he misses the dip. He likes to see the shape of Takumi's collarbone, the angle of his neck and chin when it's not hidden by his collar or the furs he's been tailored for. In their apartments, Takumi slips out of his shirt. Bare and shivering - a little brave smile on his mouth - and asks him to look as much as he'd like. 

Leo's brain won't stop constantly picking on things and sifting through them. The safest place to stand in the room, the sound of the guard changes in the halls and the courtyard beneath his study. Even though it's cold, he keeps the window open, alert to every sound. 

The minutiae of voice as it shifts is what he pays attention to; needy-curious, the rise of stress, a mood that could move to anger in time. He writes and rewrites the proposal - two proposals - and asks himself how he can refine his arguments. He takes lunches with Camilla, happy herself with her short lover and her young orphans. Tired, less clean-pressed, but motherhood suits her. Leo enjoys the time, but it's infuriating how often she talks about love. 

Takumi goes home to visit his family, and Leo aches for him. His routine is disturbed, and the spaces Takumi sits in are empty. It's not a good feeling. He sits down, takes out his pen, and begins to write. He will endure. 

Leo hasn't finished his book of tactics when Takumi returns. By his estimate, it's a third, but there's more present matters. He finds himself going red, from his neck up his cheeks, a blush that barely ends at the roots of his hair. His proposal is finished, too. 

No time like the present. He kneels to a Hoshidan prince, holding up his family ring. 

Leo edges slowly into Xander's study. It's a slow month, comparatively. Redistrobution is a complicated matter but it's also just a lot of math, balancing one side to the other. He has his proposal in his hands, and memorized it word for word. 

"Yes, Leo?" Xander says, not looking up.  
Even with all this training, and he can't step silently enough to go unnoticed.  
"My King," Leo says, "I've been thinking of a way to improve the likelihood of better trade between our nation and Hoshido. It seems to me there's a way to get better prices for our ore and a lower overall cost on food. I've written up my analysis here."

He places the document on Xander's desk, taking two steps backward. 

Xander lifts the document to look, the crease in his eyebrows only getting deeper. 

"Leo," he says, gravely at last, "Nobody marries somebody else for better sales tax. You have my blessing." 

A relief. For all the angles he could think of, marriage was the one thing he wouldn't have been able to budge on.


	2. Chapter 2

Leo reaches out to his son in the study, stroking the golden fluff of his hair. He doesn't remember much about when his children were born, but every moment since then, the past has flown further into the night. Kiragi turns his head and the sun is in his smile, working on his problems until they're all complete. There is a morning in Nohr, after all. 

"Dad?" he asks, leaning to one side, shuffling the book sideways toward the other - "Do you know how this solution works? I can't balance it."

Leo takes his seat on the desk, picking up the book to look for himself. He knows the problem - it's his old book, after all - and he sets it down a moment later.

"Have you checked the decimal, Kiragi?" Leo says, tapping his pen to the point. 

It's just a lot of math. 

He notes the sound of the double doors down the hall. Probably a messenger, but hopefully, perhaps - somebody else. 

Takumi opens the door for his son. Forrest's gentle laugh fills the air, a package under his arm. It's large enough that Kiragi abandons his work to help him with it, dropping it on the table so that Forrest can lift the lid. 

"Look, Kiragi!" Forrest says, "We can match!"  
Leo glances into the box, noting the style of the suit inside. A tender blue, like Hoshidan skies. As Takumi walks over too, Leo puts his arm around his waist, pulling him to press against his side. 

It's good to have him with him, with all of his doubts and defenses finally at rest. He's calm, soul and heart. Takumi prods the suit with a finger. 

"What's it made of?" he asks, dubious. Kiragi hustles to cap his ink bottle, aware of other times and other tables, and other accidents. 

"A silk blend-" Forrest begins, excitement in his voice. 

Leo lets the words wash over him, glad to see his family happy. He's got a lot less to worry about even with his workload, these days.


End file.
